The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) is a federal insurance program that provides benefits to retired and/or disabled workers and their dependents (spouses, children) and to survivors of insured workers. The OASDI is the official name for Social Security in the United States. The OASDI provides monthly payments based on the worker’s earnings during their working years. The program was adopted in 1935 during the Great Depression, and in 2022 the average monthly benefit received by the recipients is $1,657.
The OASDI is based on a tax collected by the worker’s contribution to Social Security, which funds the program in order to provide benefits and partially replace income to retired people and those who lost their income due to a disability or death of a spouse. According to the Social Security Administration, 90% of individuals aged 65 and older receive social security benefits.
[Last updated in April of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]